Sex not gender, No Outsiders changing the Equality Act, DepHead/DSL captured

In the theme of our dear @Boiledbeetle

Incandescently angry.
Not just vexed, or annoyed.
We are beyond that.

We have left the livid shores, exasperated, sad.
Beyond the tempestuous seas, tumultuously tossed and turned.

We have arrived, sader and older, in the lands of white, hot fury.

We will not be silenced.
With dignity and respect.

WE WILL ENDURE.

And thank you @SinnerBoy your thoughts are very insightful.

We are not the problem, and do not wish to be cast as such.

We do have some "Peter" characters in the group, hot tempered and impetuous.

I present a calm persona in life, and rant and vent on here.

The virtue of a committee is that we modulate to an even keel.

And, the support here is wicked!

Happy to be a drip!

Never send an email in anger or fear. Cold, hard reason pisses them off more.

As we are pretty much replying by committee, we are moderating our replies. We will not be intemperate.

Thanks @SinnerBoy we are endeavouring to put our points across as politely and respectfully as possible, although we do not feel that we are being treated with respect in return

This is the email we will be sending, about the disingenuous reply we had to our complaint

Dear Headteacher

Thank you for your response, but I am afraid there seems to be a misunderstanding about our concerns about this book.

You state that the school does not teach gender identity beliefs and that stereotypes are challenged wherever they are seen, but our concerns about the book are that:

1. The book appears to present gender identity beliefs as facts, including a glossary (likely to be interpreted by children as factual) with the definition of “gender identity” as a person’s “sense of their own gender, which may or may not correspond to the sex they were assigned at birth”, and describing sex as “assigned” at birth (rather than observed). Not believing in gender identity is equally as acceptable as believing in it, and both are protected under the Equality Act 2010. How does the school ensure that gender identity is presented as belief, and that other beliefs are also included in the teaching, when using this resource?

1. The book reinforces gender stereotypes in which being female is defined by stereotypes of appearance and physical grooming including “pretty” painted nails, long hair and wearing bright colours and stereotypically feminine clothing. The Dad’s gender is presented as revealed by the use of nail polish: “We paint each other’s nails. Oh, didn’t I tell you? My Dad is a she.” How does teaching using this resource meet the DfE guidelines not to reinforce harmful stereotypes or to suggest children might be a different gender based on the clothes they prefer to wear?

1. The book polices children’s pronoun use, including a child who is corrected on the use of she/her pronouns for their uncle. We are concerned that the message to children that they must use pronouns which may conflict with biology is a safeguarding issue, denying children the language to name reality and recognise and describe someone as male or female, or to feel able to react to or report situations that make them feel uncomfortable. How does the school ensure that encouraging children to accept diversity and be polite and respectful to people in their preferred gender expression also ensures that children have the language and understanding needed for safeguarding, and protect the equally valid beliefs of children who do no believe in gender identity ideology?

It is possible that these concerns were addressed by the context in which it was taught. If so, we would be reassured to see the reading comprehension lesson plan including how it was highlighted to the children that this is a set of personal beliefs that must be respected but are not shared by everyone; and identifying and challenging the stereotypes about women in the book.

And if, on review, you conclude that the school did not ensure it was clear that these were part of a range of personal beliefs and ensure that children were supported to critically identify and challenge the sexist stereotypes, then we would like to be informed of how this will be addressed.

We support and value inclusiveness at this school, our children will interact with a wide range of people throughout their lifetimes, and it is important that they can treat those people with dignity and respect for their beliefs. We echo the importance of our children understanding about a range of families and we are encouraged by how our children are introduced to range of religious beliefs and shown how to respect them, without being taught any religion as fact.

We appreciate that there will be a range of personal beliefs on this topic. We are requesting that the school respects all views in the school community, including ours that gender identity is a personal belief which (similarly to the excellent teaching of a diversity of religions at the school) should be respected but not taught as fact. We would appreciate the school responding constructively to address our concerns rather than dismiss them.

To be fair, @ScrollingLeaves it does all feel like a bit of a sham.

We are incandescently furious.

To be told that our views are bigoted, offensive and we should be removing our children from the school

Yes, I agree @SinnerBoy

We are going to send our original response email, and then there will be a second email, detailing what was said on the phone call and making a complaint + trying to find out the schools official position on this

Yep.

I've heard the voice message from friend D, from immediately after the phonecall.

The DepHead objected to friend D not wanting her child to be taught about transgender and NB identity. The DepHead said that the messages were offensive, and that she should consider taking her daughter to a different school.

We are not all evangelical Christians, there are two, plus CofE, Anglo-Catholic, Methodist, Muslim, Hindu, agnostic and atheist.

There is some more evidence that is going to be shared with us, but it sounds as though the DepHead is saying that if we don't like what the school is teaching, we should take our children elswhere